The Rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem in 520 B.C. and God’s Sovereignty Over the Nations and Its Rulers

Haggai 1:1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” 12 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. 13 Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. 14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. (NIV)

The book of Haggai next to Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament.

It deals with the God of Israel using the prophet Haggai to issue four messages to the remnant of Jews who returned from the Babylonian captivity.

The purpose of these messages was to encourage this remnant to complete the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by the third and final Babylonian invasion in 586 B.C.

These messages were delivered over a period of fourth months in 520 B.C. during the second year of the Persian king Darius Hystaspes (522-486 B.C.).

They were delivered to this postexilic community 18 years after their initial return from Babylon.

There are three main characters in the book of Haggai.

First, there is Darius Hystaspes, the king of the Persian empire which was the superpower of the ancient world at the end of the sixth century B.C.

He is also mentioned in Ezra 5 and Zechariah 1.

The second main character is Zerubbabel who was the leader of the Jewish exiles from Babylon and the governor of Judah.

His name means “offspring of Babylon” which strongly suggests he was born in Babylon during the exile.

He is also mentioned in Ezra 2:2 and Zechariah 4:6.

Lastly, there is Joshua who was the high priest and was thus responsible for leading nation in the worship of Yahweh.

He shared the leadership responsibilities with Zerubbabel.

He is also mentioned in Ezra 2:2 and Zechariah 3:1.

The purpose of the book of Haggai was to persuade the remnant of Judah to finish rebuilding the temple in order that the God of Israel could dwell with them as a result of worshipping Him.

The Lord’s statement in Haggai 1:13 that He was with each and every member of the remnant of Judah was the direct result of this remnant obeying His command to complete the rebuilding of His temple in Jerusalem.

The Lord’s declaration in Haggai 1:13 that He would be with the remnant of Judah also assures this remnant of His personal presence meaning He would indwell the temple.

This is implied by the command in Haggai 1:8 to complete the rebuilding of this temple in Jerusalem since the purpose of this task was so that this remnant could once again have a centralized location in which to worship Him.

The Lord’s declaration in Haggai 1:13 that He would be with the remnant of Judah also has an active sense in that the Lord would Himself be actively involved in the work of completing the rebuilding of the temple since Haggai 1:14 asserts that He energized Zerubbabel and Joshua and the entire remnant of Judah to complete this task.

Almost seventy years had passed since the city of Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple had been destroyed by the third and final Babylonian invasion of this city in 586 B.C.

At that time, the southern kingdom of Judah was deported by Nebuchadnezzar.

However, the Medo-Persian empire in fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel (Dan. 2:32, 39; 7:5, 17; cf. Dan. 5-6) defeated the Babylonian empire.

Then, in 538 B.C., Cyrus the Great announced a policy, which would allow the Jewish remnant in Babylon to return and reestablish Jerusalem.

In fact, 150 years before the temple was rebuilt in 515 B.C., and the city of Jerusalem was rebuilt in 444 B.C, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 predicted that Cyrus would carry out the Lord’s wish to rebuild Jerusalem and her temple.

Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,” and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’ (NIV)

Approximately, 50,000 exiles returned under Nehemiah and Ezra.

They offered sacrifices, observed the Feast of Tabernacles and began the work of rebuilding their fallen temple the next year under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua (Ezra 1-3).

The foundation of the temple was completed with much rejoicing and singing.

However, this enthusiasm was dampened by the efforts of the Samarian officials who effectively stopped the rebuilding of the temple.

But in 520 B.C., the Jews appealed to Darius Hystaspes who authorized the completion of the temple.

Haggai along with the prophet Zechariah exhorted the remnant of Israel to resume the construction of the temple (Ezra 5-6).

Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest courageously led the people in rebuilding the temple despite the fact that Tattenai appealed to Darius to stop their work (Ezra 4-6).

The Persian monarch investigated the matter and issued a verdict in favor of the Jews.

After five years, the remnant of Judah brought to completion the work of rebuilding the temple (Ezra 5-6).